Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Appointment of chairman
The chairmanship alternates between a District
Councillor and a Parish/Town Councillor every meeting. The Committee must appoint a District Councillor
as the Chairman of this meeting.
Minutes:
District Councillor Hollingsbee was appointed
Chairman for the meeting.
|
2. |
Declarations of interest
Members of the Council should declare any interests which fall
under the following categories:
a)
discloseable pecuniary interests
(DPI)
b)
other significant interests (OSI)
c)
voluntary announcements of other interests
Supporting documents:
Minutes:
There were no declarations of interest.
|
3. |
Minutes
To
receive the minutes of the meeting held on 19 January
2023.
Supporting documents:
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 19 January
2023 were submitted and agreed as a correct record.
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4. |
Kent County Council Consultation Regarding Changes to Community Services
Kent County Council Officers Rebecca Spore,
Director of Infrastructure, and Ben Sherreard, Kent Communities Programme Manager will
provide an update on the ongoing consultation regarding changes to
Community Services.
Supporting documents:
Minutes:
Mr Sherreard
provided the committee with a presentation that gave an overview of
Kent County Council’s (KCC) proposed changes to community
services, what the changes aimed to achieve, and the timeline for
the project. The presentation slides
have been attached to the minutes for refence.
During consideration of the item the following
points were noted:
- As part of the consultation, KCC
gratefully received suggestions of buildings that could be used to
co-locate services. These buildings did
not need to be owned by KCC.
- Lympne Parish Council had a village
hall with a confidential room, potentially this could be suitable
for use by other service providers, particularly in support of
mothers and children who attend baby and toddler clubs at the
site.
- KCC had a dedicated team that was
looking to develop a single point of contact system to allow
residents to access all their KCC services from one digital
platform.
- In the more distant future there
could be an opportunity to further integrate KCC services with
other service providers, such as the Police or NHS.
- KCC had worked with bus service
providers when producing the proposals, however KCC did not control
which bus routes would be provided in the future. Community bus services could be organised to cover
areas where commercial bus service providers have reduced
services.
- The proposals did not include the
closure of any library buildings; however, these buildings could be
used to co-locate other services.
- The expected timeline indicated that
implementation of the changes would begin in the early part of
2024; completion of the process could take a couple of years as
there was a need to ensure continuity of services.
- Everyone was encouraged to
participate in the consultation, further details can be found on
the following dedicated web page: https://letstalk.kent.gov.uk/community-services-consultation
- For people who do not wish to
complete the online consultation questionnaire, comments can also
be provided by email: communityservicesfeedback@kent.gov.uk
or by voicemail message: 03000 419 815.
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5. |
An update on the Ship Street Development
A presentation will be provided by Andy
Blaszkowicz, Director of Housing and Operations, giving an update
on the latest position of the development at Ship Street,
Folkestone.
Supporting documents:
Minutes:
Mr Blaszkowicz and Mr Baxter provided the
committee with an update on the Ship Street development, the
presentation covered the history of the site, reasons for its
dereliction, the work that has taken place, the next steps and what
the council hopes the site will look like once its
complete. The slides have been attached
to the minutes for reference.
During consideration of the item the following
points were noted:
- Engagement with the public had been
positive and responses highlighted the importance of providing
energy efficient, affordable homes on the site.
- Wheelchair access across the site
was being incorporated with access via Ship Street to Foord Road, to deal with the significant level
change from west to east across the site.
- The project did not directly benefit
from levelling up funding, however it did compliment the wider
regeneration work of the fund.
- Informal discussions with developers
had indicated that the site would not benefit from a very tall
building, there were regulatory requirements for buildings over 18
meters high that impacted on their viability.
- There were around 150 units proposed
for the site.
- Once the Council has made the site
safe, its positive land value should attract interest from
developers; the Council may wish to go into partnership with a
developer as part of a joint venture or look to sell the whole site
to a developer.
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6. |
Coast Drive Coastal Destination Project
A presentation will be provided by Andy
Blaszkowicz, Director of Housing and Operations, giving an update
on the Coast Drive Coastal Destination Project.
Supporting documents:
Minutes:
Mr Blaszkowicz provided a presentation that
gave an update on the Coast Drive Coastal Destination
Project. During the presentation it was
noted that there were currently 700 people on the waiting list for
a beach huts, so the Council was looking for areas where more beach
huts could be situated. The aim of the
project was to make the Coast Dive area a destination, with
services and amenities onsite that will encourage residents and
visitors to visit the beach. The slides
have been attached to the minutes for reference.
During consideration of the item the following
points were noted:
- It was hoped that planning
permission would be granted in Spring 2023.
- Proposals have been drafted with
input from residents and New Romney Town Council, who were in
support of the proposal.
- The Council would be meeting with
the Sea Cadets, who were based on site, to ensure they were fully
supported; this would include parking arrangements.
- The proposal recognised that the
area was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and
incorporated areas of fencing to protect key areas.
- There had been discussions with the
RNLI to ensure their operations from the Littlestone Lifeboat Station would not be
impeded.
- New Romney Town Council’s
Highway Improvement Plan identified the need for a pedestrian
crossing to assist people in crossing Coast Drive, between the car
park and the shops. The Town Council
would be in touch with KCC Highways.
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